Things are Heating Up

It took about a week due to all the rain delays but our Solar Hot Water heater was finally finished on Friday afternoon about 4 o'clock.  The sun peaked out from behind the seemingly never ending clouds for a couple minutes and I eagerly watched the temperature on the controller and the storage tank shoot up several degrees in a couple of minutes.  Of course the next couple of days were cruddy with no sun and lots of rain.  Even under banks of clouds it still heats up enough for the pump to come on and start heating up the water.  The pump won't come on until the temperature at the collector is 10 deg C hotter than the temperature of the water at the bottom of the storage tank.

Today we actually got some sun around noon and the thermometer on the storage tank was reading 39 deg. C and  the controller indicated the solar collector was 42 C  (see last 2 pics).   It got up to 59C at some point according to the maximum read out.  The electric hot water heater is set at 65 deg so we were almost there.  It will probably take a few sunny days to get the whole 60 gallons in the storage tank nice and hot; hopefully in the next few days...  I wrote down the kilowatt hours on our electric meter so I can compare our daily usage before and after the hot water heat to get an idea of how much electricity we are saving.  I'll keep you updated.  One added bonus so far is all the excercise I'm getting running up and down the stairs to see how hot everything is.  I think I made the trip ten times today!

Comments

[Duane]

Hi Rick,

I live in Durham Region between Orono and Kendal.

I think permits are only needed in and around towns and if it is a larger wind generator.

The guy from Hydro One said there were a lot of people putting in solar panels compared to wind generators. I guess solar works anywhere and wind needs a prime location.

Hope you give it a try!

[Rick]

Keep up with these posts. Hey I just found you, but roughly where do you live? I'm wondering about permits for your wind turbine. Thanks?